The next day was an odd one, even for Bag End.

Gandalf left before Frodo arose, Yew heard him go. Frodo awoke considerably later as did the rest of the hobbits in Hobbiton. Yet, by midday there was a sizable crowd in the front garden of the Hole in The Hill. Some, like Paladin Took, were genuinely concerned about dear old Bilbo’s welfare. Others were merely curious. The rest were wondering what, if anything, was in it for them.

They all were expected and a weary Frodo greeted them at the door; letting in some while others came in anyway. As the crowds grew, Merry volunteered to help his cousin police the various relatives and acquaintances who filled Bag End. Fortunately, Paladin had been one of the early comers and had brought Yew’s traveling cage in case Gandalf wanted it for their journey. At Frodo’s request, he had taken care of Yew, putting him in his cage and placing the cage in Gandalf’s room. Frodo had already placed a sign upon the door that read: “Gandalf the Wizard’s room, enter at your own risk!” in hopes of keeping the curious out of there. The crowd would thin out by the end of the day and Pippin would get to visit his former pet tomorrow when the hubbub was over. Actually, Yew was more a friend now than a pet,.

After all, Gandalf’s plan was to stay at Bag End for at least a week to help Frodo make his adjustments to his new position in life.

Yew was not thrilled with the arrangement. He wanted to know everything that was going on, not be doubly locked up.

“Well,” Paladin said as he set the cage in a corner of Gandalf’s room where it couldn’t be seen from the window. “I can understand your feelings, Yew. But it is this or you have to pretend to be a statue all day.”

Yew tipped his head to one side. “Pippin told you about last night, eh?”

“Yes,” Paladin chuckled, “and I think it was a wonderful idea. To be honest with you, I wasn’t happy that you were missing out on the party either. I’m glad my lad came up with a workable solution. But today is different. The focus of the crowd is here at Bag End and it would be unreasonable to assume no one would notice you.”

Yew nodded his sad agreement and was shut away for the day.

Early in the evening the door to Gandalf’s room burst open. Yew jerked awake.

“. . . were going to stay a week.” Frodo was in mid sentence as he and the wizard entered the room and Gandalf began stuffing his few belongings into his small satchel.

“I had planned to stay that long but now I’m not. Some . . . things have come to my attention and I need to be off at once. Besides, I’ve the feeling I’m not exactly welcome in the Shire just now.”

He turned to leave but stopped, as he caught sight of Yew’s cage on the floor in the corner.

“I’d forgotten about you,” he sighed. “We are leaving right now, my reptilian friend.” Gandalf picked up the cover Eglantine had made for the cage that had a slot in it for the handle to poke through and started to cover the cage.

“What! No!” Yew twitched his tail and puffed out a small, angry, flame. “I’ve not said goodbye to Pippin. You can’t just march off with me and not let the poor lad say goodbye to me, He’ll be heartbroken.”

Gandalf eyed the dragon and a tender smile grew behind his beard and mustache. “You’re right, Pippin will be quite crushed.” He covered the cage then picked it up to the level of his face. “We will make a small side trip for farewells,” he addressed the cage’s occupant through the cover. He turned to Frodo. “Now, I really must be leaving.”

Frodo had to trot to keep up with the hurrying wizard. Gandalf and Yew went out the door and out the gate into the gathering gloom of the late Winterfilth night. The new master of Bag End shivered, he did not like how burdened Gandalf seemed to be.

Wizard and dragon arrived at the Green Dragon under the cover of full darkness and a few well-aimed pebbles brought Paladin to the window of the Took’s sitting room.

“Who’s out there?” he called.

“Hush!” Gandalf sharply whispered. “I cannot come into the inn without causing a stir, and that is best avoided. My plans have changed and I need to leave the Shire at once. Yew insisted that he and Pippin have their good byes before we go.”

“Oh my! Yes, certainly. We would all like that I should think. Give us a few minutes and we will meet you behind the stable.”

Ten minutes later the entire Took family arrived behind the Green Dragon’s stable. Once there, Paladin cracked open the shutter on the lantern he brought with him.

“Sorry for the delay, Gandalf,” Paladin said. “We got spotted by some friends and had to not appear to be in a hurry or we’d have had their curiosity up. As it is I hope they believed we were only taking a walk to look at the stars.”

“Better that you avoided suspicion, my friend.” Gandalf patted the hobbit’s shoulder. He drew the cover off the cage as Pippin pushed forward and dropped to his knees beside it. As soon as the cover was off the lad threw the latch and opened the door. Gandalf wondered how the dragon felt about being hugged and rocked in front of everyone, but in the dim light he could see Yew’s eyes were closed and a smile graced his mouth.

“This is all so fast!” Pippin moaned “We were supposed to have a week of visiting and being with Frodo and Merry, and instead you have to go right now and Merry hasn’t even got to see you!” He continued to hug his friend.

“I know, Pippin.” Yew’s voice was soft and soothing. “I too had been looking forward to a longer farewell and to meeting your favorite cousin. I had much I wanted to say to you and now it must be only that I will never forget you, nor your family, and all your many kindnesses to me.”

“We won’t ever forget you either, Yew. Thank you for all the stories you’ve told me about dragons. Be careful. Have a good life wherever it is Gandalf is taking you.” The child was sniffing every few words. “I hope you end up with a very nice cave and a lovely large hoard.”

“And you, my friend,” Yew opened his eyes and looked at the rest of the Tooks, “and all your family, live long and happy lives, here in your gentle Shire. Pippin,” he pulled his head back to look the young hobbit in the eye. “Have adventures. I think you will see some of the wide world. Be careful when you do and may you come back safely home to your family.”

To everyone’s surprise, including Yew’s, Pippin kissed the dragon on the top of his head before gently placing him in the cage and latching the door. He stood up slowly, like an old hobbit might, then went to stand by his mother, leaning into her side as though he were younger than he was. Lanti put her arm around him and he didn’t shrug it off.

“Good bye, Yew,” each Took said in turn.

Paladin let out his breath in a sigh. “Thank you, Gandalf, and may you farewell on this journey. We are in your debt.”

“I am glad to be of help with your most unusual problem. My blessings upon your family.” The Wizard went down on one knee in front of Pippin. “I promise to take good care of Yew. I am not sure that I will be the one taking him to his new home as something of great importance has arisen that I need to attend to. But, I will see if I can find one of my fellow Wizards, a good-hearted soul named Radagast the Brown who has a deep love for all the creatures of Middle-earth. He will take better care of Yew than I could anyway and he is familiar with the lands we chose for him to live in.”

“All right, Gandalf.” The lad was still teary and sniffing. “If you think that other wizard will take good care of Yew, then I’ll trust him too.”

Gandalf hugged Pippin tightly. He did like this little hobbit lad nearly as much as he cared for Bilbo and Frodo. He covered Yew’s cage and stood up.

“Farewell then, my good Tooks,” he said as he picked up the cage. “We really must be on our way now.”

He strode off with the dragon, a soft chorus of “Goodbye” and “Farewell” wafting along behind them on the night breezes.